Victory worth the extra wait
Mickelson wins 5th Pebble Beach Pro-Am title
Despite Phil Mickelson’s best efforts to finish the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on time, he begrudgingly accepted a Monday morning conclusion after significant weather delays Sunday.
It was worth the wait. Mickelson began the day with a three-shot lead over Paul Casey and Scott Stallings with two holes to play and held on for his fifth Pebble Beach Pro-Am title, tying Mark O’Meara’s record. It’s the 44th PGA Tour win for Mickelson, who ended a five-year drought last year in the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.
Mickelson won the tournament on the same course where his grandfather was a caddie when it opened 100 years ago. “Every time I get here, I have all sorts of gratitude for what this place has done for my family, starting with my grandfather, to have my pro career start here, to have this victory. It means a lot,” Mickelson said.
The 48-year-old shot 19-under-par 268 for the week and urged playing partner Casey to try to finish the round Sunday night in near-pitch black conditions. Casey didn’t think they’d have enough time, and a back-and-forth discussion took place before play was sus- pended with two holes remaining for Mickelson and Casey, at which point Scott Stallings was in the clubhouse and tied with Casey at 15-under.
Mickelson trailed Casey by three shots entering the final round and shot 7-under 65 to take control.
Casey took solo second at 16-under. He has 14 international victories and was vying for his third PGA Tour title.
“I thanked Paul this morning for hav- ing us finish in the morning because I get sometimes in my own little bubble that I don’t see the big picture and he really protected both of us,” Mickelson said about the conversation he had with Casey on Monday. “The greens were beat up. We had a chance to come out today on fresh greens, better weather, and be able to see a lot better. I was very appreciative of that. I told him so.”
It wasn’t the first time Mickelson has had to wait things out at Pebble Beach — the 1998 Pro-Am was rescheduled six months after the fact because of unrelenting weather before Mickelson ultimately picked up his first career win there in August.
Two decades later, Mickelson won’t have much time to celebrate No. 5. He’s heading to Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles for this week’s Genesis Open. There he’ll have bragging rights over tournament host Tiger Woods due to his one-on-one victory in “The Match” last fall in Las Vegas.
Mickelson will return to Pebble Beach in six months hoping to finally knock off his last leg of the career Grand Slam with that elusive U.S. Open victory. He said Monday morning that this win means “absolutely nothing” for his chances at the U.S. Open in June.
The rough will be much thicker then, and Mickelson’s bomb-and-gouge strategy he employed in the Pro-Am won’t work once the USGA gets its hands on the course.
What it does mean is that Mickelson continues to be a serious contender in the twilight of his career and now has one win and one runner-up in three starts this season. And a goal of 50 alltime victories is within reach as Mickelson continues to set records and defy the odds.